Sunwoda plans to invest about RMB 12 billion ($1.9 billion) to build a 30 GWh power battery production facility in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

Chinese power battery maker Sunwoda plans to invest about 12 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) to build a 30 GWh power battery production base in Zhuhai, in southern Guangdong province, the company said today.

The Shenzhen-listed company said in an announcement that one of its subsidiaries plans to sign an investment agreement with the Zhuhai city government to move forward on the project for the development, design, production and sales of cells, battery modules and battery systems.

The Zhuhai government will provide Sunwoda with about 800 mu (533,330 square meters) of land for the construction of facilities including plants, warehouses, living quarters and R&D and testing centers.

The investment and construction of the project is to expand the production and operation scale of the company's power battery business, which is in line with its strategic needs, the announcement said.

Sunwoda started as a maker of cell phone batteries and was listed on the A-share market in 2011 as a supplier to Apple.

In 2008, Sunwoda began manufacturing automotive power battery packages and battery management systems, and started mass production of battery cells in 2018.

The company has been a foundry for Xpeng's G3, which went on sale in 2018, in the battery assembly segment.

Sunwoda's market share in China in 2021 was 1.3 percent, ranking 10th, according to data released in January by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance, with CATL ranking first with a 52.1 percent share.

On February 24, Sunwoda announced plans to raise capital, with a total of 19 companies planning to inject RMB 2.43 billion into it, which will give them a 19.5495 percent stake in the company after the capital increase is completed.

Li Auto's affiliates Jiangsu CHJ Automobile Co Ltd, Sky Top LLC and their designees will all invest RMB 400 million and are the two largest capital raisers, each receiving a 3.2 percent stake.

Suzhou Weirui Venture Investment Partnership, indirectly owned by William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio, plans to invest RMB 250 million for an approximate 2 percent stake.

Sky Top is an Xpeng-linked entity, LatePost said, citing people close to the deal.

After the Sunwoda investment, Li Auto's power battery supplier will remain just CATL, and if it changes suppliers, it will be shown in a new product announcement, the report said, citing a person close to Li Auto.

XPeng reportedly bringing in another battery supplier to reduce dependence on CATL